Imbula to Stoke headlines transfer deadline day across Europe

Stoke City spent a club record to strengthen its midfield, while Everton fortified its attack on transfer deadline day.

February 01, 2016

Monday was the last day for clubs across Europe to sign new players, with the winter transfer window shutting for the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and La Liga.

As expected, no major superstars changed addresses, with Euro 2016 and Copa America around the corner and players wary of jeopardizing their international standing by changing their club environments so close to the competitions.

That said, some notable names did move, as clubs looked to reinforce and stock up for the stretch run in hopes of either winning titles, securing places in European competition or avoiding relegation.

Here are the moves that took place on transfer deadline day:

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10:46 p.m.

Stoke City completed the signing of 23-year-old defensive midfielder Giannelli Imbula from Porto on a five-and-a-half-year deal for a club-record fee of £18.3 million.

"Giannelli is a player we have been trailing for some time and we are delighted to have concluded a deal to sign him," club chief executive Tony Scholes said. "At one stage it looked unlikely that we would be able to get the deal over the line but things accelerated quickly earlier today and Giannelli is really excited about the prospect of playing in the Premier League with us."

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10:36 p.m.

Swansea striker Eder has joined Lille on loan for the rest of the season in a bid to force his way into the Portugal squad for the 2016 Euro.

The powerful center forward has struggled to adapt to the Premier League after signing a three-year deal with Swansea last summer from Sporting Braga, failing to score a single goal.

Eder was allowed to leave for Lille after Swansea hired Alberto Paloschi from Chievo last week.

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10:10 p.m.

Swansea has signed Leroy Fer on loan until the end of the season.

The 26-year-old midfielder joins from second-tier QPR, having made 19 appearances for the club this season.

Fer has been capped 11 times by the Netherlands and previously played for Dutch sides Feyenoord and FC Twente and also spent a season with English Premier League side Norwich.

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10:00 p.m.

French club Marseille has bolstered its attack by signing Scotland international Steven Fletcher on loan until the end of the season.

The 28-year-old striker joins from Sunderland, where he scored 23 goals in 108 matches.

Fletcher's contract with the Black Cats is set to expire at the end of the season.

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9:50 p.m.

Bordeaux has signed Mathieu Debuchy from Arsenal on loan until the end of the season.

The 30-year-old right back has featured just seven times for the Gunners this term and has seen Hector Bellerin become the first choice full back in the Arsenal starting line-up.

Debuchy made a total of 22 appearances for the English Premier League club following a move to the Emirates from Newcastle United in the summer of 2014.

Bordeaux is currently seventh in Ligue 1 with 33 points following 23 rounds.

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9:40 p.m.

Fiorentina has signed Greece international Panagiotis Kone from Udinese on loan until the end of the season.

Kone has been plagued by injuries this campaign, which has limited the 28-year-old to just five Serie A appearances.

The midfielder has made 28 appearances for Greece, scoring twice.

Fiorentina is third in Serie A, eight points behind leader Napoli and six behind Juventus.

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9:05 p.m.

Spanish club Valencia says it has signed Russian international Denis Cheryshev from Real Madrid until the end of the season.

Valencia says the 25-year-old midfielder will undergo a medical on Tuesday before being officially introduced to fans and media.

The left-footed player made his debut with Russia's national team in 2012. Valencia says he is "renowned for his exquisite technique, fitness and character on the field of play."

Cheryshev was on a loan with Villarreal last season before being called back to Real Madrid's squad in 2015.

He made headlines last year after playing in the Copa del Rey while being ineligible because of accumulation of yellow cards in the previous season, when he still played for Villarreal. Real Madrid was disqualified from the tournament because of the irregularity.

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9:00 p.m.

Everton has signed forward Oumar Niasse from Russian side Lokomotiv Moscow.

The 25-year-old Senegalese striker joins for a fee of $19.5 million and has penned a four-and-a-half year deal.

Niasse was voted the Russian Premier League player of the year in 2015 and scored 13 goals in 23 appearances for Lokomotiv this season.

"It's a great day for me, a big dream to play in the Premier League and a big dream to play for Everton," Niasse told the club's official website.

Saint-Etienne has signed Norwegian midfielder Ole Kristian Selnaes on a four-and-a-half year contract.

The 21-year-old left-footed player joins from Rosenborg, where he won the league and cup double last season and was subsequently voted the division's best player.

Alexander Soderlund, Ousama Tannane and Franck Tabanou have also joined the French club during the January transfer window.

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7:15 p.m.

Watford has signed Abdoulaye Doucoure from French Ligue 1 side Rennes and promptly loaned him to Granada for the remainder of the season. The club did the same with 18-year-old forward Adalberto Penaranda, who was already on loan at Granada from Udinese.

Doucoure, a 23-year-old midfielder, moves to Vicarage Road having spent three-and-a-half years with Rennes.

Doucoure made his debut for the club in 2012 and is a product of the Rennes academy.

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6:50 p.m.

Greek club AEK Athens says it has signed Manchester City midfielder Bruno Zuculini on a loan for the rest of the season.

A statement from the Greek club Monday did not refer to financial terms of the agreement.

The 22-year-old Argentinian joined the Manchester Club two years ago, but was loaned out to Spanish clubs Valencia and Cordoba before he and returned to England for a spell with second-tier Middlesbrough.

AEK returned to Greece's topflight this season following the club's financial collapse in 2013, and has had a surprising first season back, occupying second place after 13 wins in 20 matches.

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6:05 p.m.

Newcastle has bolstered its striking options in its bid to avoid relegation from the English Premier League after signing Seydou Doumbia on loan from Roma until the end of the season.

Newcastle manager Steve McClaren described the Ivory Coast international as a "natural goalscorer, someone who has scored goals in the Champions League and has played at the highest level. We believe he can make a mark in this team."

Doumbia left CSKA Moscow during the last offseason to join Roma, where he has made just 13 league appearances.

Newcastle has an option to make the transfer permanent in the summer.

Newcastle has been the Premier League's biggest mover in the January window, signing midfielders Henri Saivet, Andros Townsend and Jonjo Shelvey.

Roma has signed Argentina winger Diego Perotti on loan from fellow Serie A club Genoa until June 2017.

Roma has paid 1 million euros ($1.09 million) for the loan deal, which also includes an option to make the transfer permanent for a fee of €9 million ($9 million) from the 2017-18 campaign, depending on certain performance-related clauses.

Perotti, who also played for Sevilla in Spain in between spells with clubs in Argentina, made 45 appearances in his 18 months at Genoa, scoring five goals.

The 27-year-old has played twice for Argentina.

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5:55 p.m.

Hamburger SV made another late addition to its roster after signing Sweden winger Nabil Bahoui.

Bahoui joins on a free transfer from Al-Ahli Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

He has featured eight times for Sweden but struggled for playing time in Saudi Arabia.

His contract runs through mid-2018.

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5:20 p.m.

Bayern Munich has signed former Germany defender Serdar Tasci from Spartak Moscow until the end of the season after losing several players through injury.

Bayern, seeking a treble in the last season under coach Pep Guardiola, has been losing defenders to injuries, with the latest casualty Javi Martinez.

He joins Germany international Jerome Boateng, who is out for several months.

Tasci, who joined Spartak in 2013, returns to the Bundesliga having spent seven seasons in Stuttgart, and winning the Bundesliga title in 2007. He played 14 matches for Germany but has not been called up in recent years.

Bayern also has an option to make the loan deal permanent.

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5:15 p.m.

Hannover, the bottom club in the Bundesliga, has signed Sweden defender Alexander Milosevic on loan until the end of the season.

The 24-year-old Milosevic joins from Besiktas with defender Marcelo moving to the Turkish side, also on loan until the end of the season.

Besiktas has an option to make the swap permanent.

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5:10 p.m.

Forward Tomas Pekhart has signed a two-year deal with AEK Athens after his contract was terminated by Ingolstadt.

The Czech international also played for FC Nurnberg, and spent brief loan spells at both Slavia and Sparta Prague.